Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
A pair of Mk.I Hawker Hurricanes, V7497 in the lead flown by Trevor Dugan and P2902 flown by Gabriel Barton, displaying together on the first day of Sywell Airshow 2024.
Hurricane P2902 was built in 1939 by Gloster Aircraft. It was one of 2750 Hurricanes built by Gloster's and went to the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 13 May 1940. It was lost after 8 hours of flying time, at Dunkirk, France with 245 Squadron on 31 May 1940.
Nine of the squadron's Hurricanes left RAF Hawkinge at 0737hrs for an offensive patrol over Dunkirk. They all returned at 0900 hrs with nothing unusual to report. At 1215 hrs the squadron again left Hawkinge for Dunkirk, with 9 Hurricanes. P/O McGlashen was flying Hurricane P2902. This is the first time that P2902 appears in 245 Squadron's Operations record book, so it is likely to have been a replacement aircraft for losses over the previous few days. P2902 was wearing the 245 squadron letter codes 'DX-R'.
A formation of enemy ME109's was sighted at 11,000 ft, but not contacted. When the squadron returned to Hawkinge at 1240hrs, P/O McGlashen was missing. Unseen by his colleagues, he had been shot down.
P2902 was hit on its windscreen and in its cooling system. P/O McGlashen was slightly wounded and temporarily blinded by oil and glycol in his eyes. He put P2902 into a dive and by the time he could see again, he was very low. He force landed and was rescued by some French Colonial troops. He returned to England via Margate on the Thames paddle steamer 'Golden Eagle' and returned to his squadron at Hawkinge.
He fought in the 'Battle of Britain' and throughout the war, which he survived.
Hurricane P2902 remained fairly intact on the beach, under mud and sand. It was recovered by Dunkerque Aero Club in 1989. In 1994 warbird operator Rick Roberts acquired it from a French Museum in a trade for a Messerschmitt Bf109E. Several restorers were employed on P2902 before Hawker Restorations were contracted to return it to flight. It's been restored as it was on its last mission over Dunkirk, including flare mechanisms, parachute tubes, and a ‘short’ Merlin engine with small radiator. Its first post restoration flight was on 19 June 2017.
In May 2016 it was sold to Anglia Aircraft Restorations and in May 2022 transferred to related company, Fighter Aviation Engineering, for whom it is operated and looked after by Air Leasing.
Hurricane V7497 (G-HRLI) - The original V7497 was manufactured by Hawker Aircraft Ltd in August 1940 with construction number 41H-136172.
It was delivered to the Royal Air Force (RAF) No.20 Maintenance Unit (MU) at RAF Aston Down in Gloucestershire, where further equipment was installed and it was prepared for service.
It went to 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron at RAF Kenley, on 19th September 1940. 501 was an Auxiliary Air Force (AuAF) Squadron within the RAF, made up of volunteer pilots who had already been heavily committed in combat in France and England prior to and during the Battle of Britain.
V7497's first operational use was for an uneventful operational patrol between 4.50 and 5.10pm on 24th September 1940, flown by Sergeant Cyril Joseph Saward.
The aircraft was used again on each of the following four days, but for only six more operational sorties, before it was shot down and lost in combat with German Messerchmitt Bf109s over Kent on 28th September.
It crashed at Chartway Street, East Sutton, near Maidstone. Its pilot, Pilot Officer Everett Bryan Rogers, parachuted to safety.
The surface wreckage of the aircraft was cleared from the site immediately afterwards. An 'archaeological' dig during the 1990s recovered significant remains of V7497, which had been buried quite deeply. Parts included the aircrafts identity plates and many others that were later used in its restoration. These were acquired by Tony Ditheridge of Hawker Restorations and this Hurricane V7497 is the result of a 'full airworthy rebuild' - effectively a completely new Hurricane aircraft built around the original identity plates and other useable recovered parts, which are said to amount to about a quarter to a third of the aircraft. It has been completed as close to its original condition as possible. This includes an original Merlin Mk.III engine, which was restored with modifications such as split cylinder banks and a modern oil filter system, designed to extend its operational life.
The rebuild was completed with its first flight at Hawker Restorations facility at Elmsett, Suffolk on 30th August 2018. It was then flown to the Imperial War Museum airfield at Duxford, where it is now based flying under the management of the Aircraft Restoration Company.
More information about Hurricane V7497 can be found on a website dedicated to the aircraft here:-
hurricane501.co.uk
This Video and Audio content is
Copyright © StephenKeeler (HightFlight/SkyHighFlightTV) All Rights Reserved
A pair of Mk.I Hawker Hurricanes, V7497 in the lead flown by Trevor Dugan and P2902 flown by Gabriel Barton, displaying together on the first day of Sywell Airshow 2024.
Hurricane P2902 was built in 1939 by Gloster Aircraft. It was one of 2750 Hurricanes built by Gloster's and went to the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 13 May 1940. It was lost after 8 hours of flying time, at Dunkirk, France with 245 Squadron on 31 May 1940.
Nine of the squadron's Hurricanes left RAF Hawkinge at 0737hrs for an offensive patrol over Dunkirk. They all returned at 0900 hrs with nothing unusual to report. At 1215 hrs the squadron again left Hawkinge for Dunkirk, with 9 Hurricanes. P/O McGlashen was flying Hurricane P2902. This is the first time that P2902 appears in 245 Squadron's Operations record book, so it is likely to have been a replacement aircraft for losses over the previous few days. P2902 was wearing the 245 squadron letter codes 'DX-R'.
A formation of enemy ME109's was sighted at 11,000 ft, but not contacted. When the squadron returned to Hawkinge at 1240hrs, P/O McGlashen was missing. Unseen by his colleagues, he had been shot down.
P2902 was hit on its windscreen and in its cooling system. P/O McGlashen was slightly wounded and temporarily blinded by oil and glycol in his eyes. He put P2902 into a dive and by the time he could see again, he was very low. He force landed and was rescued by some French Colonial troops. He returned to England via Margate on the Thames paddle steamer 'Golden Eagle' and returned to his squadron at Hawkinge.
He fought in the 'Battle of Britain' and throughout the war, which he survived.
Hurricane P2902 remained fairly intact on the beach, under mud and sand. It was recovered by Dunkerque Aero Club in 1989. In 1994 warbird operator Rick Roberts acquired it from a French Museum in a trade for a Messerschmitt Bf109E. Several restorers were employed on P2902 before Hawker Restorations were contracted to return it to flight. It's been restored as it was on its last mission over Dunkirk, including flare mechanisms, parachute tubes, and a ‘short’ Merlin engine with small radiator. Its first post restoration flight was on 19 June 2017.
In May 2016 it was sold to Anglia Aircraft Restorations and in May 2022 transferred to related company, Fighter Aviation Engineering, for whom it is operated and looked after by Air Leasing.
Hurricane V7497 (G-HRLI) - The original V7497 was manufactured by Hawker Aircraft Ltd in August 1940 with construction number 41H-136172.
It was delivered to the Royal Air Force (RAF) No.20 Maintenance Unit (MU) at RAF Aston Down in Gloucestershire, where further equipment was installed and it was prepared for service.
It went to 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron at RAF Kenley, on 19th September 1940. 501 was an Auxiliary Air Force (AuAF) Squadron within the RAF, made up of volunteer pilots who had already been heavily committed in combat in France and England prior to and during the Battle of Britain.
V7497's first operational use was for an uneventful operational patrol between 4.50 and 5.10pm on 24th September 1940, flown by Sergeant Cyril Joseph Saward.
The aircraft was used again on each of the following four days, but for only six more operational sorties, before it was shot down and lost in combat with German Messerchmitt Bf109s over Kent on 28th September.
It crashed at Chartway Street, East Sutton, near Maidstone. Its pilot, Pilot Officer Everett Bryan Rogers, parachuted to safety.
The surface wreckage of the aircraft was cleared from the site immediately afterwards. An 'archaeological' dig during the 1990s recovered significant remains of V7497, which had been buried quite deeply. Parts included the aircrafts identity plates and many others that were later used in its restoration. These were acquired by Tony Ditheridge of Hawker Restorations and this Hurricane V7497 is the result of a 'full airworthy rebuild' - effectively a completely new Hurricane aircraft built around the original identity plates and other useable recovered parts, which are said to amount to about a quarter to a third of the aircraft. It has been completed as close to its original condition as possible. This includes an original Merlin Mk.III engine, which was restored with modifications such as split cylinder banks and a modern oil filter system, designed to extend its operational life.
The rebuild was completed with its first flight at Hawker Restorations facility at Elmsett, Suffolk on 30th August 2018. It was then flown to the Imperial War Museum airfield at Duxford, where it is now based flying under the management of the Aircraft Restoration Company.
More information about Hurricane V7497 can be found on a website dedicated to the aircraft here:-
hurricane501.co.uk
This Video and Audio content is
Copyright © StephenKeeler (HightFlight/SkyHighFlightTV) All Rights Reserved
